Fansided

Ranking every Hall-of-Fame teammate from James Harden’s career

By Nicholas Chiarito

James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half of Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs at Barclays Center on April 22, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half of Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round Playoffs at Barclays Center on April 22, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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Carmelo Anthony, Duncan Robinson
Apr 6, 2017; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) inspects the ball before a game against the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

James Harden has played with four different NBA teams and on every single one he’s played with a future Hall-of-Famer. Here is how they stack up.

Not many players in NBA History have a resume like James Harden. He is a 10-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection (five were First Team), a three-time scoring champion, two-time assist champion, the 2012 Sixth Man of the Year and 2018 NBA MVP.

Over the course of his luxurious career, Harden has played with four different teams. Harden played three seasons with the Thunder, then in the 2013 offseason was traded to the Rockets where he played for nine seasons, then at the start of the 2021 season was traded to the Nets where he played two seasons, and then halfway through his second season with the Nets he was traded to the 76ers where he’s played a season and half.

At every single destination, Harden has played with a Hall-of-Fame caliber player and yet Harden still hasn’t won a ring yet. This summer he requested a trade, away from reigning MVP Joel Embiid, with the Clippers (and two new future Hall-of-Fame teammates in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George) as his preferred destination.

The amount of talent he’s played with is simply staggering and so we’ve ranked the seven different Hall-of-Fame teammates Harden has played with based on the version of them Harden played with.

Ranking James Harden Hall-of-Fame teammates: 7. Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony is one of the greatest players that this game has ever seen. He is a 10-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA selection, the 2013 scoring champion and a member of the 75th anniversary team. Despite all that he has accomplished, Melo is the worst HOF teammate Harden has had.

This is because the version of Melo that played with James Harden wasn’t that good and out of the 10 games Melo played with the Rockets, he had only shared the court with Harden in seven of them.

In those 10 games for the Rockets, Melo averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, .5 assists on 41/33/68 splits. These were abysmal numbers for the future HOF at the time but it’s not entirely Melo’s fault because he was playing under Mike D’Antoni’s system. He needed Melo to be an uptempo floor-spacer but at that point, he was more of a mid-range specialist and half-court grinder. The fit wasn’t right which was clear after those 10 games and why he was waived.

When Melo was waived it had seemed like his career would be essentially over as many thought he wasn’t willing to accept the fact that he was old. Out of all the HOF teammates Harden played with, the version of Melo that he played with was without question the worst.